Burn Notice: Uncharted Territory
by REiO-LoV3
Summary: Both groups were screwed over by a common enemy. They decide to team up in order to bring him down. The story is better than the summary lol. The story trades off POV every chapter between Mike and Nate.  Story is co-written by Reio and Sydney.  NOTE: I've updated this entire story after spell-checking and fluffing. And added an intro...just for fun! ;
1. Intro

Intro

_Mike:_ My name is Michael Weston, and I used to be trapped in a foreign country fighting for my team's lives against a –

_Nate:_ *runs in* HEY! Don't give away the ending! Besides mister 'burned super-spy', who said you get to tell the story?! I could totally tell it better than you can!

_Mike:_ *annoyed glare* Nate, I'm pretty sure I can remember the facts about that mission much clearer than you could. Besides, we would never get to the point of the story if you told it! There would be tangent after tangent after annoying tangent.

_Nate:_ Shenanigans! Do you know how many adventures I've been on and survived? A LOT! And do you have _any _idea of how good I am at telling stories? Plus, all my missions have been pretty exciting and –

_Mike:_ *cuts in* AND dangerous. Elena told me about your 'adventures'…you accidentally survived every one of them.

_Nate:_ oh yeah!? Well…your Plan A's NEVER EVER WORK!

*Boys get into a fistfight. Elena and Fiona walk in and start laughing.*

_Fiona:_ *rolls eyes* Honestly boys, couldn't you have finished the introduction before getting into a fight?

_Elena:_ *shakes head, slaps forehead* It seriously _was_ a miracle that we survived that ordeal.

*Sully and Sam walk in and pull Nate and Mike apart.*

_Sam:_ Now, now, save all that energy for the sequel guys…

_Sully: _*lights cigar* Agreed. Now, without any further screw ups…Burn Notice: Uncharted Territory. Enjoy.

_Nate:_ *crossing arms* Wow Sullivan…_love_ the enthusiasm.

_Mike:_ *rolls eyes* Like you could've done any better.

_Nate:_ *glares before clearing throat* And now! Without any further –

_Elena:_ *grabs Nate's ear and starts to drag him away* Oh no you don't! We've got to get back to work on the sequel! You two can take turns telling the story…you know, like civilized people! Now, Come on!

_Nate:_ Awwwww! You're no fun Elena!

_Fiona:_ *following Elena* Come along gentlemen, you heard the lady.

_Mike, Sam, Sully:_ *sighing* Coming Fi…


	2. Part One: Mike's Setup

Part One: Michael's Set-up

"Columbia? Really Michael?"

I wasn't surprised by her comment at all. Fiona had the same annoyed response every time I asked her to help with an agency mission.

"Mikey….It's been a _long _time since I've been to Columbia." Sam shifted in his seat a little, no doubt reminiscing over his last 'trip' down there.

I didn't blame them for not wanting to go. I didn't want to go myself, but Pierce had insisted. She said that if I were to successfully complete this mission, she would consider it a 'personal favor' which meant she might actually put in a good word for my ticket back into the CIA. I had no choice. Either I went to Columbia or everything I had accomplished in the past four years was for nothing. Oh, and I had exactly three hours to put together a three-man team. No way could Pierce spare an agency team on a mission that didn't exist.

"Please?" I flashed a smile at Sam, then at Fi. "I really need your help. And I'll make it up to you."

Fiona sipped her Bloody Mary before sitting back in her chair, "I'm listening…"

I groaned inwardly, the grin playing on her lips meant this was going to cost me. "We can go to any store you want and I'll buy you the nicest thing you see."

"Okay! I'm in." She announced gleefully.

I turned to Sam, "Free mojitos for a week?"

"Better make it two…it's Columbia."

"Deal."

"When do we leave?" Fiona asked.

"Now if that's ok." I glanced at the Charger, "I already packed our gear."

"You already packed our gear?" The angry edge had left Fiona's voice, which was a bad sign.

"Yeah…"

"You were that sure we would say yes?"

I hesitated. "I was…hopeful."

"Okay then, we have a plane to catch." Fiona stated, finishing her drink. Sam did the same.

"Yeah, we do. Thanks again guys." I decided to leave out a few details of the mission until we reached the 'airport'.

The airstrip we were using was a small, one lane road tucked neatly in the everglades. Discreet. Secure. Perfect for a small cargo plane to illegally smuggle spies into another country.

"Is that a cargo plane?" Fiona asked in dismay as I parked the Charger off the main road.

"Yeah, that's our plane." I heard her sigh as I exited the car and walked to the trunk. They joined me at the rear of the car.

"Here…" I handed them both packs.

"Parachutes? Really Mikey?" Sam asked.

"Our plane won't be landing when we get to Columbia," Fiona started to speak but I cut her off by handing her a sniper rifle, "Which is why I'm making up for it by giving you the biggest gun."

"I can deal with jumping out of a plane." Fiona grinned at her new toy.

"No argument here, but just in case I better hold onto this." Sam grabbed the twelve gauge from my trunk.

I grabbed the assault rifle, and lead the way towards the plane. "Our mission is simple. We hike from the drop to a base camp in the mountains, meet our contact, and guard his compound from a small group of terrorists who are planning to steal something from him."

"Who is the guy?" Sam asked.

"Pierce doesn't know his name."

"What are we guarding?" Fiona asked.

I paused, "She didn't know that either. The orders came from high up, above her clearance. All I know is that I was requested for this job."

"By Mr. Mysterious Columbian Guy?" Sam sounded worried, "This doesn't sound good, Mike. You know anybody from Columbia?"

"No."

"This guy couldn't hire a group of thugs to play security guard?" Fiona asked.

"He wanted the best, and the CIA wants to be on good terms with a Columbian national. I do this mission, and I get on Pierce's good side."

We boarded the plane. Crammed into a sardine can is more accurate.

"Just saying, I really hate this." Fiona stated as she chose the seat next to me, "I think I'll tell you all about it on our 15 hour plane ride."

I smiled, stifling a groan. "Great…"

Fourteen hours later, we approached the drop zone. The sun was shining. Everyone was restless after being trapped in a window-less tin can. Jumping out of this plane was looking better and better. Our pilot yelled from the cockpit for us to get ready, and moments later the plane was soaring at the right altitude. The co-pilot positioned himself to shut the door back after we jumped. I felt the usual pre-jump knot in my stomach as I opened the plane door. Wind filled the cargo hold, beating against the three of us. I looked at Fiona; she actually looked excited, so maybe I wouldn't get punched when we landed. Sam threw me a thumbs up, and passed me to launch himself out of the plane. Fiona followed suit, pausing in the doorway to look at me.

"See you at the bottom!" she mouthed before falling backwards out the plane to show off.

I dove after them. Wind tore at my clothes and my gear. I fell for a moment, pressing my knees and feet together, before I pulled the chute. The chute tugged hard at my back as it drug through the air and jerked as it slowed me down. I watched as the plane disappeared into the cloudless sky. I turned my eyes to the ground. Sam had already landed; Fiona would be landing in seconds. Something was horribly wrong. I couldn't see any trees or water - nothing that even resembled a rainforest. We were landing in a desert of red sand and rock.

_When you're a spy, you get used to things not going as planned. When a mission goes wrong; even gets completely screwed up, the only thing you can do is grit your teeth, examine your surroundings, and try like hell to figure out what went wrong._

I touched down on the sand hard, rolling to even the impact. Sam and Fiona were waiting for me, as confused and furious as I was.

"Where the _hell _are we?" Fiona was the first to yell.

I looked around. I had no answer.

"I thought you said we were dropping in Columbia?" Sam said.

"We were. This must be a mistake…"

"You think?!" Fiona threw her pack on the ground.

I pulled the radio out of my rucksack, and twisted the knob. Nothing. I pulled the back off of the battery case. Nothing, except for a small folded note.

"We're in trouble." I said as I unfolded the note, and read it aloud, "By now you probably figured out that you three were set up. Good luck escaping this desert. Oh, and you're being hunted." I groaned as I gazed at the signature.

"Is this a joke?" Sam sounded un-amused.

"Who wrote it?" Fiona studied my face; she sounded worried. It worried me less when she was mad, this was worse.

"Tyler Brennan."

The sound of gunfire echoed across the sands. The pain in my shoulder shot down my spine. A mass of bullets slammed into the sand near our feet.

"Run!" I managed to yell as I un-clipped my chute and darted towards the nearest cover.

Fiona wheeled around stubbornly, drew her side arm, and fired in the direction of one of our attackers. One of the sources of bullets died out. I grabbed her arm right as a bullet whizzed far too close to her head. We ran as fast as we could towards a large rock formation that seemed to stick out against the barren wasteland around us.

"What do we do?" Fiona asked as we slid into cover beside Sam.

"Check your gear - see what we have." I grabbed Sam's pack, "Do what you can to cover us." Fiona passed him the sniper rifle and turned to help me.

After a few moments of digging, I sighed, "I have a useless radio, three rifle clips, two 40 caliber clips, two MRD's, a canteen, my cell phone, my USP, and a brick of C4. No cell service of course."

Fiona met my gaze. I turned away. She still looked a little panicked. It reassured me that we were in serious trouble and bothered me more than I liked.

"I have two canteens, four MRD's, my cell phone, also useless, three rifle clips, and a handful of shotgun shells." replied Fiona.

Sam fired the rifle, "Two down, one…to…go" Another shot, "We're clear Mikey. We should get as far away from this trap as possible."

"And go where, Sam? Last I checked, our pilot, who was probably in on this, left us stranded in the middle of the desert." Fiona sat against the rock, looking furious.

I was glad she was angry again, even more so that it wasn't directed towards me. This was a step in the right direction. This was the first step towards a plan, "We need to get anywhere but here. We need to figure out where we are, how to leave, and then take down Brennan."

"When we find him, I _will _kill him. This is the last time he does anything to us." Fiona fumed.

"I have no problem with that." Fiona and I locked gazes; her eyes sparkled with excitement.

Sam looked away from the scope, "I might have found something," he passed the rifle to me, "look just past the tree to the north."

I looked into the scope, aimed at the lone, scrubby tree in the distance. Barely visible, near the base of the trunk, even farther in the distance was a cloud of silver smoke pouring from a chimney.

"We go that way." I passed the rifle to Fiona, so she could look.

"Do you think that's where Brennan is?" she asked, "That's could be anywhere from five to thirty miles away."

"It's a long shot." Sam said.

"It's the only shot we have right now." My shoulder pinged as I sat down to repack the rucksacks.

"Michael…" Fiona moved behind me, her voice small. "You're hurt."

"It's just a scratch." I felt her finger jab into the wound. I groaned in pain.

"You got shot." I wasn't facing her, but I knew she was frowning at me down-playing my bullet wound.

"I'll be fine." I insisted as I removed my bloodstained t-shirt and passed it to Fiona.

She ripped it and tied it tight around the wound.

I winced but didn't show it, "We need to move before they come back."

The desert sun was unbearable, far worse than the Miami heat we were accustomed too. It was early in the morning when we started walking; the fifty pound parachutes we had collected from the drop zone weighing heavy on our backs. We kept them just in case we might need them. Para-cord had proven its worth many times in the field before. It was almost in the same league as duct tape. Fiona protested at first to me carrying half of her gear but didn't argue when I took it anyway. I brushed her cheek with my thumb in a silent apology for dragging her into this mess.

We headed north towards our best guess of population, watching carefully for signs of snipers or an ambush. Fiona's guess of thirty miles was mostly accurate, at least as far as we could tell, and we reached the rocky hills surrounding the smoking building around dusk.

We hid behind a similar rock formation and examined the building we were facing: It was enormous and resembled a military compound, with multiple stories, sheet metal and concrete structure, and surrounded by a ten foot high electric, barbed wire fence. Eight large hummers populated by men in camouflage patrolled the fence, and men armed with AK-47 rifles walked the perimeter.

"I think we found Brennan." Fiona stated.

"Good work, Sam." I turned to my friends, "We only have and hour till sundown. We need to find some shelter for the night. We will try to figure out this place tomorrow.'

"I agree." Fiona said, she took and looked around.

"Me too." Sam agreed before joining in on our search.

"That looks _promising…_" Fiona pointed out what appeared to be a cave hiding around the nearest hill, about half a mile away from the compound.

We embarked on our un-enthusiastic half mile, weary from our hike across the desert. With no food on the hike, clothing designed for the rainforest instead of the desert, and hardly any water we were beginning to loose touch with reality as is common when the sun boils your brain for too long. We needed food, shelter, fire, and some rest; then we could form an escape plan. We reached the mouth of the cave just as the sky was beginning to glow pink. The click of a hammer startled us all.

"Hands where I can see them, amigos." a male voice ordered from behind us.

Fiona's hand slipped to her side arm. Her hip was blocked by Sam from the direction of our attacker's voice.

"Don't even think about it sweetheart." A deeper, male voice said from another angle.

We all slid our hands into the air. I raised my injured shoulder as high as I could. A petite, blonde girl approached us. She took all of our weapons and moved back towards her friends.

The first voice spoke again, "If you don't try anything funny, you can lower your arms and turn around."

I lowered my arms, silently grateful for an opening to talk my way out of this hostage situation. We turned to face the opposing group. I examined the guy in front of me: thirty-something, sandy brown messy hair, dusty khaki shirt, jeans, and an AK-47. The man standing in front of Sam, no doubt the deep voiced one, was older…grey hair, Hawaiian shirt, khaki pants, and a Smith and Wesson revolver. The blonde looked to be about Fiona's age and build, her hair was tied in a messy bun, and her pink button up was just as dusty as the first man's shirt. She clutched a small pistol; our guns lying at her feet. They looked nothing like the men from the compound. I hoped they could help us.

"What are you three doing here?" the younger man in front of me asked.

"We're stranded." I said, being cryptic until I was sure they were on our side.

He stared at me for a moment, his eyes lingering on my poorly bandaged shoulder. He hooked a thumb in the direction of the compound, "It have anything to do with those jack-asses back there?"

"We think so."

He lowered his gun, motioning for the others to do the same. "Us too. What'd they do to you?"

"Threw us out of a plane; shot at us." I motioned towards my shoulder, "You?"

"High-jacked our convoy with a mortar. Didn't get us though, we were lucky." The man grinned despite the situation.

"Where's the rest of your convoy?" I asked, hoping for a truck.

"Well, when I said convoy I meant two trucks both of which are gone now." The man scratched the back of his head. "We walked here. Wreckage is about two days south."

"Oh." I inwardly cursed our luck.

"Sorry about before, can't be too careful." The man grinned, "I think we got off on the wrong foot before."

I smiled and offered my hand, "Michael Weston."

He shook it, "Nathan Drake. This is Elena and Sully." He motioned to his group.

"Fiona and Sam," I introduced.

Elena passed back our guns as Drake and Sully holstered their weapons. "What do you say we all head to our camp and compare notes on our _little friend?_"

"Sounds great." as they turned around I turned to Fiona who looked unsure. I shrugged.

"Can we trust these people?" she whispered.

"They seem to trust us, so why not?" I replied quietly. It was all I really had to go on. We had guns again. They weren't holding us at gunpoint anymore. This was progress.

Sam gave us the thumbs up, "The old guy seems cool. And he has great taste in shirts."

"Well, Sam is on board." I smiled at her.

"So I heard." Her expression didn't change.

We followed the mysterious trio into the hills. I hoped that our luck would improve not that we've joined forces with fellow survivors.

"What brings you three to Australia?" Drake asked, as he sat down near the campfire.

We had followed them to a discreet camp hidden about a mile away from the compound. Apparently we were in Australia; that answered my first question.

"A job. Our mysterious employer was supposed to fly us in for a search and rescue mission in Columbia." Not the truth but I couldn't exactly tell them I was a burned spy on a screwed up mission trying to get back into the CIA. Or that Fiona used to be an Irish terrorist. Or that Sam used to be a Navy Seal. As far as I was concerned, these people didn't need to know our life's story, just our current misfortunes.

"That's rough. Sounds like you guys got screwed." Sully said as he puffed on a cigar. It was the first time he had spoken since the hold-up. Sam silently nodded in agreement.

"What are you all doing here?" Fiona asked before I could.

"We were trying to find an old map - a treasure map - one that would lead to the biggest secret treasure trove in all of Australia." Elena said. She laced her fingers with Drake's.

"That was until we crossed paths with that blood-thirsty joker hiding in that compound!" Drake grumbled. "Apparently I rubbed him the wrong way when I stumbled onto his super-secret archive building in the middle of the desert."

"We got a little lost in the mess of back roads around Perth, and ended up in the wrong place at the worst time." Sully chuckled.

"Happens a lot really." Drake joined in on Sully's laughter.

"What would this blood-thirsty joker's name be anyway?" Sam asked, instantly interested at the mention of 'secret archives'.

"Introduced himself as Tyler Brennan. Did the cocky villain spill too. Guess he wanted to tell someone the truth, like he would explode otherwise. Of course, he thought he was going to kill me too." he squeezed Elena's hand. "He wasn't expecting her to save my ass."

"As usual." she teased.

"What did he say?" I pressed, anxious to find out more.

"Said he was an international spy, that he didn't have the time to be bothered by a 'cocky little shit' like me, and then he was interrupted by his phone and talked to some American in the CIA."

"Male or female?"

"Male. He must have been important because Brennan kept addressing him as sir. After he hung up, he grinned like a crazy person. Told me all about his perfect plan to hunt down a group of CIA agents that he hired…" Drake grinned, "I'm guessing that's you guys, right?"

I swallowed. He had just said 'agents'.

"Relax, we don't care if you three are spies." He shrugged nonchalantly, picking up on our tense silence. 

I decided I could trust him. I offered him the radio note. "He gave us this, after the jump."

"Definitely the same asshole, after I escaped he tracked us then attacked us. And here we are." Drake passed the note back to me.

"Here we are indeed. Stranded in a desert with a goddamned lunatic, this couldn't get any better." Sully stated, snuffing his cigar butt.

Drake chuckled before playfully slugging Sully's arm, "Come on Sullivan, this can't be any worse than the time we had to escape the crumbling city of Ubar…or the demon yetis in the Himalayas."

Sully shot Drake a confused look, "The what?"

"So, what was Brennan's plan to kill us?" Sam asked, changing the subject.

"Said he was going to 'hunt you down like the dogs that you were'." Drake added air quotes for effect. "For something about pissing him off and foiling a mission he had planned a few years ago in Miami. And that it would be hilarious to drop you in the Australian desert and have hardly any gear and no way out."

"Sounds like Brennan." Fiona stated. She hugged her sniper rifle to her chest, no doubt musing over shooting him next time we met.

"Also, he said you wouldn't make it five minutes after the jump. So, congratulations! I hope he's pissing his pants right now."

We all laughed at the thought of Brennan squirming inside his cushy compound.

"If we team up, we can take down Brennan together." I said, locking eyes with Drake.

"I like the way you think Mr. Weston."

"Call me Mike." I offered him my uninjured hand to shake.

He took it. "Okay Mike, call me Nate."


	3. Part Two: Nate's Revenge

Part Two: Nate's Revenge

The next morning, we all gathered around the campfire for a quick bite to eat before heading out on our so dubbed 'revenge' mission.

"Alright everyone, dig in!" Elena said, splaying her arms out with over exaggerated gusto. "I call it improvised spaghetti and meatballs."

I looked down into the pot of bubbling mess and chuckled quietly to myself before taking my seat without so much as a grimace, not wanting to be smacked around by the chef.

"Is that just hotdogs and noodles?" Sam questioned, quickly correcting himself after a piercing look from Elena. "Not that I'm not grateful or anything!"

Elena glopped a good-sized helping onto his plate before flashing a cocky grin at him, "Why yes it is. Enjoy!"

Everyone chowed down while we talked about nothing in particular. Fiona seemed to actually be enjoying her meal…either she was just being polite or was too hungry to care. Sully lit up a cigar and used his plate as an ashtray while he and Sam compared war stories about their time in the Navy. Mike didn't talk much; just ate his meal and stared at the ground, probably brooding over something. After serving herself, Elena sat down beside me and planted a quick kiss on my cheek before digging in.

"You know, Elena, this is actually pretty good!" Fiona smiled at my wife.

"Well thank you, Fiona! Glad somebody appreciates 'fine cuisine'." Elena added air quotes to make her point.

The two women laughed, "I think I'll ask you for your recipe, so I can cook this for Michael every time he's in trouble." Fiona smiled devilishly in Mike's direction.

"Thanks…" Michael said with fake enthusiasm, "Shouldn't we focus on our plan?"

I decided to agree with the poor guy; I know what it's like to be harassed by your girlfriend. "Sure, let's compare strategies. How would you three handle it?"

Mike placed his plate next to him on the log before answering, "We would watch the place for at least a day to figure out the guards' routines, and then figure out a way to get in, eliminate the target, and plan an escape route."

"An escape route, you hear that Nate?" Sully laughed, "That's a god-damned genius idea!"

I threw a 'shut up' look at Sully, "Well, we would try a plan similar to that…then it would go all to hell really fast leaving me to climb something and start shooting people till we were safe. Then we would find the fastest way out, usually using the nearest explosive. It works most of the time."

"Basically, we have no plan. He just wings it." Elena laughed.

"I like your style, Nathan Drake." Fiona laughed, "You should take a few pointers from him Michael. We don't blow things up nearly enough."

"Oh that's great; you just put a really bad idea in that thick Irish skull of hers." Sam sounded honestly worried.

I laughed a little, "We can try to plan something, but I've dealt with guys like this before. They're slippery."

"So basically, you plan to adjust to our original plan failing? That sounds good to me," Fiona smiled, "and then we can just blow Brennan up." Fiona nudged Michael playfully. Maybe she was serious, I had no idea.

"Sounds good to me too." Sam grinned, "You know anything about the compound?"

"Only that they have lots of guns and men. I can scale that fence no problem…as soon as we kill the electricity, that is." I added.

"I was starting to say kid, even you aren't that good." Sully laughed.

"So, we kill the electricity, sneak in, and then what?" Michael asked. I had the feeling he was an all business kind of guy.

"I haven't thought that far ahead yet." I shrugged, taking a sip from my canteen, "Honestly, I'm usually thrown into life or death situations, and I don't have time to plan."

I thought for a second, musing over how Michael and his crew probably did things, "Wouldn't they have security guys watching out for guys like us?"

"Yeah, they're probably posted on the roof, perimeter, and inside." Fiona agreed.

"That's a lot of guys with guns." Sam added.

"I really hate security guards." Sully grumbled, tossing his cigar butt into the fire.

"If we slip past the perimeter and hide, that would leave an opening for Fiona to snipe the guards on the roof." Michael suggested.

"Does this plan involve a lot of cardio?" Sully asked, a groan hiding in his voice.

"Probably, knowing Nate and our shitty luck." Elena added sarcastically. I nudged her playfully with my elbow before wrapping my arm around her shoulders and pulling her close for a kiss.

"I can help, you know, with the sniping. I used to be in the military. I can handle some sniping." I detected a wink from Sully towards Fiona out of the corner of my eye, but she didn't seem to notice. Or she didn't want to notice.

"Okay, Fiona and Sully take out the guards while Nate and I sneak in…" Michael said, thinking hard as he trailed off.

"I could distract the guards before you two get in with a truck crash or something." Sam suggested.

"How are we going to get a truck?" Michael asked.

"The guards do a one truck perimeter sweep, three miles out once a day around three o'clock." Sully informed.

"That would work! We could take that truck and crash it!" I exclaimed. I knew I had sounded a little too excited about that. Mike was looking at me with a hint of confusion, "Sorry…that's usually what I do to save my ass. It's an awesome idea to plan a distraction."

I laughed before leaning back a bit, "This 'planning' business is starting to grow on me."

"Bout damn time! We should've met you three sooner!" Sully joked, patting Sam's shoulder.

Sam joined in on Sully's laughter, "When all this is over, we're getting a beer together!"

Michael, trying hard to keep us all on track, continued with his planning. "While Sam is distracting the guards we will sneak in and track down Brennan."

"You're taking him alive, right?" Fiona asked.

Michael shot her a confused look. Judging from the few hours I'd known them, I guessed he had never heard those sparing words from her mouth.

"Because I get to kill the bastard, we agreed on that." Fiona demanded after no one answered her.

Sully let out a low whistle, no doubt as shocked at I was at the mean streak coming from such a tiny woman. I had the impression that she could hold her own, and nobody dared tell her any different. She reminded me a little of Elena when we were in Nepal way back when…only Fiona was more blood thirsty and a tad bit terrifying. I sure as hell didn't want to meet her in alone in a dark alley!

Sam shook his head and sighed, "No point in arguing with Hair-Trigger Barbie. Fi gets to do all the dirty work."

Michael looked like he wanted to protest, but didn't, "After we get answers out of him, you can do whatever you want to Brennan."

Fiona smiled warmly at him, "Thank you Michael."

"So, where does that leave me?" Elena asked, "What's my job?"

I frowned. I was hoping she wouldn't want to be in the line of fire, but I should have known better.

"Someone will need to cover Sam from higher ground." Michael said. He caught my gaze then looked away, "How are you with a rifle?"

"I'm better with a handgun." Elena stated. "I can fight _alongside_ Sam you know."

I groaned, "Elena…"

"I'm going to be in the truck, and that's final. No tricking me out of it this time." She shot me a determined look, the same one that I've seen her give me for as long as we're known each other…I knew I could never talk her out of it now.

I sighed, defeated. "Alright, just please be careful."

"I will." She grinned as leaned onto my chest; tossing her empty plate into the fire.

"Okay, so we figure out the guard schedule, steal a Hummer, shoot the electricity box and the snipers, scale the fence, break in, take Brennan, and escape." I summed. Saying it all out loud seemed to make it sort of official.

"Hopefully without any hitches…" Fiona added.

"Nate and I will be inside, Sam and Elena will be in the truck, and Fiona and Sully will be in the hills covering everyone." Michael concluded as he stood to throw his paper plate in the fire pit as well.

"We also have a radio that is connected to four ear buds. Mike, Elena, Sam, and I can all wear those and Sully and Fiona can have the radio." I tossed my plate behind me. Sully did the same.

"You could burn those you know." Elena scolded playfully.

"Nah, they're _way _too far away now." I laughed. She rolled her eyes.

Sully lit up another cigar as everyone finished eating and started cleaning up, "Guess it's time for surveillance…"

I groaned inwardly. I knew I was going to hate sitting still for the rest of the day. This was probably going to kill me. "Let's go then."

We headed towards the compound, positioning ourselves in the rocky hills in perfect view of it. We set up three scoped rifles and traded out every so often. We sat in our hideout for hours and it took no time at all for me to get completely bored out of my mind. I tried not to complain until Fiona started complaining. Then it turned into a free-for-all.

"Have I _ever _mentioned how much I _hate _surveillance?" Fiona said, looking directly at Michael. I assume to make sure that he saw how utterly bored she was.

Michael turned away from his scope to glare at her, "Only, _every_ time we do surveillance."

"I'm so bored…and hot." I groaned, laying back into the sand and covering my eyes with my forearm.

"Here's a great idea, how about you two go for walk? Somewhere we can't hear you bitch." Sully suggested.

"I would much rather stay and make you suffer." Fiona retorted.

Sully laughed and turned his attention back towards the compound. He nudged Elena, who had passed out against the stock of her rifle.

"What?! Where are they?!" She jumped; her finger flew to the trigger.

"Calm down Doll!" Sully exclaimed, "Why don't you switch with Sam?"

"Okay." She muttered before passing the rifle to Sam. Elena moved over to another rock and curled up beside it to take a nap. It wasn't a bad way to pass the time, except that I picked the _worst _time to be hyper.

"Yup, I'm outta here!" I cheesily offered Fiona a hand up, "Join me, Senorita?"

She took my hand, "Gladly."

Michael looked up from his rifle, and I thought I detected a jealous spark in his gaze but it was gone before I could tell. "Be careful…" he warned as we left to go stretch our legs.

A little bit after Fiona and I started walking, we spotted a rocky hill that strangely resembled a climbing wall. I laughed to myself before turning back to her, "Feel up to a bit of rock climbing, Fi?"

I winked at her before scaling halfway up the wall, stopping momentarily to look back to see if she had followed. When I didn't see her on the ground, I started to ask out loud where she had disappeared too, only to realize that she had flown past me and was sitting at the top grinning down at me.

"Well, what are you waiting on Nathan? We haven't got all day."

I laughed as I climbed the rest of the way up, "Damn, I thought I was the only monkey in town!"

We traveled a good distance before resting against a shaded ledge with rocks that looked like they were made to be sat on. I plopped down without thinking about it and was about to relax when I felt something brush against my inner thigh.

"Hey now, I'm married you know…" I joked, looking towards Fiona. She was still standing and was looking down at me with a mix of horror and confusion. "What? I was only kidding!"

"Don't move!" She whispered, slowly pulling her pistol out of her belt. I was terrified but obeyed, not wanting to piss off the lady with the gun.

"Wait a damn minute!" I felt the same brush, only closer this time. I looked down between my legs and let out a small girlish squeal. There was a ginormous freaking spider making itself at home next to my manhood!

"I can shoot it." Fi whispered, aiming directly at the spider.

"No!" I squeaked, "That's dear to me!"

"I won't hit you!" she assured.

"Maybe it'll leave or something!" The spider threw its front legs in the air, ready to attack. "SHIT!" I whispered loudly.

"Let me shoot it!" she begged with an impatient edge in her voice.

The spider hissed at me, "SHOOT IT!" I covered my eyes, praying that she was as good a shot as everyone said she was.

The gun went off, I twitched and peeked through my fingers, "You get it?"

"Do you feel any pain?" she asked sarcastically as she holstered her pistol.

"Smart ass…" I mumbled as I launched off the rock, grateful to my new friend and the well placed bullet hole through the spider's body.

My radio buzzed, "You two okay?" Sully asked, "We heard a gunshot."

I turned to Fiona, "I'll make you a deal. You don't tell them I squealed like a girl and I won't tell them you shot a spider off my junk."

"Deal." she laughed.

I held the radio up, "We're fine, just had to shoot a deadly spider."

I heard Sully sigh, "Try and be a little quieter alright kid?"

"Sure thing Sully."

"Oh and the truck just headed out. Make sure you can't be seen from its path." He added.

"Can do, which way did the truck head?" I asked; glad to move on to another topic.

"They're heading south this time."

"Okay." I grinned as a wonderful idea popped into my head, "We'll be back soon!" I put away the radio, and turned to Fiona, "I got a plan! Wanna help?"

"With what?" she asked.

"I followed the truck one day, just to see where it was going. It drove through a one lane pass in the hills that is perfect for an ambush." I explained, grinning like a fool. "We are only a few yards from there; we could take the truck!"

"I don't know…Michael won't like it…" Fiona hesitated, rubbing her arm.

"Okay, how about we just go there and see what happens?" I was a little confused as to why Fiona wasn't gung ho about my spur-of-the-moment plan. But I figured that, with enough reassuring, she would come around.

"How narrow is the pass?" Fiona asked as we started walking that way. I smiled to myself, she was curious…a good sign!

I was really hoping I could convince her as we walked there. I was itching for some action. "The Hummer barely fits, and they drove really slowly through it."

"Really?" Interest peaked in her voice and then disappeared.

I stopped walking and faced her, "Are you really worried Mike will be mad?"

"No…not really…"

I decided to try a little play-begging, "Come on! What's the worst that could happen? You're good with a gun, right? And we _do _need the truck…"

"OK you got me, let's steal a truck," Fiona gleamed, "but if this goes wrong, I blame you!"

"Alright, I see how it is." I joked, continuing onward. I was almost giddy with excitement as we neared the tiny pass. I was finally getting to see some actual action instead of having to do stupid surveillance.

We made it to the pass a few minutes before the truck. Fiona and I crouched on the edge of one of the short cliffs, waiting for the truck to appear.

"See that rock down there?" I pointed to a man sized rock that looked like a perfect hiding place, "You could hide down there while I distract the truck and make it stop. Then you could sneak up behind them and take out the driver."

"How do you plan to stop the truck, exactly?" she asked, surveying the land and the spot I had pointed out.

I grinned and chuckled a little, "I don't really know yet, still working on that part."

"Ah, I see what Elena meant now…" She laughed.

We could hear the trucks engine faintly in the distance as we started to get into position. I helped Fiona down to the rock cover before laying down out of sight as the truck rolled into the pass.

As the massive Hummer slid past Fiona, I launched myself into the air yelling like a crazy person. Out of sheer luck and to my own amazement, I landed on my feet on the hood of the vehicle. "Don't even think about shooting me!" I yelled at the stunned and extremely armed passengers as I pointed my pistol at the driver's head.

I could see Fiona sneaking up behind the Hummer and staying out of site as she approached the driver's door. I took this opportunity to make her approach a little bit easier.

"Alright, slowly drop your weapons out the windows and but your hands in the air where I can see em!" The guards did as I requested, looking more pissed off by the second.

Once the last gun hit the ground, Fiona shoved her gun in the driver's face and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. "Out of the car!" she yelled, practically pulling him through the window.

I slid off the hood, and forced the guard in the passenger seat out of his door. Fiona pistol whipped her captive, letting his body slump to the ground. She hopped triumphantly into the driver's seat.

"Good idea!" I knocked out my guy and joined her in the Hummer.

She laughed, "That was awesome!"

"We make a good team!" I shouted as I shot her a high five.

"We should tie up the guards and stuff them in the trunk." She pulled a roll of duct tape out of the small satchel tied onto her belt and grinned evilly.

I had to smile; this chick was just full of surprises, "Again, great idea!"

"We can't have any witnesses." She grinned as she went to work taping up the guards' hands and mouths before I lifted them into the trunk.

I pulled out my radio and grinned despite myself, "Surveillance is over kids, Fi and I just scored big! Meet us back at the camp for the grand unveiling of our surprise."


	4. Part Three: Mike's Disaster

Part Three: Mike's Disaster

As we approached the camp, I could hear Fiona and Nate's laughter over the sounds of an idling engine and muffled groans. I impulsively assumed the worst.

"Well I'll be a son of a bitch!" Sully chuckled, putting out his cigar.

"What? He better not be doing what I think he's been doing!" Elena stated, visibly aggravated. I could tell by her reaction she worried about Nate being alone with another pretty woman.

We entered the camp to the sight of a rather angry Fiona violently kicking the ribs of a gagged guard with Nate as her cheerleader. I think I can speak for everyone when I say that we were all pretty stunned.

"That will teach you to think before you rip off perfectly good duct tape and try to escape!" Fiona growled, kicking the guy again for good measure.

"Woohoo! You get him Fi! Atta girl!" Nate cheered as he pointed and laughed.

I stared at the scene in front of me for a few minutes, not really sure how to react. Then I snapped back to reality, "Hold on a minute, what are you two doing exactly?"

I heard Sam laughing behind me, "Dang Mike, thought we'd lost ya there for a minute."

Fiona wheeled around to face me, "Michael, we stole the truck!" She had completely forgotten about bashing in the poor guard's ribcage, leaving Nate to re-tape the guard's hands and toss him into the back of the truck.

My eyes flew from the Hummer, to the guards in the trunk, and back onto Fiona who was right in front of me now. A huge grin spread on her face; this was the most fun I had seen her have in a long time…too bad this was a total disaster.

I ran my hand over my face in aggravation; my head was spinning trying to form a new plan. Taking the truck a day early meant that the truck would be missed. The guards would be missed, possibly searched for. The only option we had now was to move the infiltration up a day. We had to go into the compound completely un-prepared.

"What the hell were you thinking, Nate? Or were you thinking at all?" I snapped, not thinking as I walked past Fiona.

Nate was in my face in seconds, eyes shooting daggers into me. "Well excuse the hell outta me! I must have missed the part where someone put you in charge."

"Mikey?" I heard Sam's voice behind me, an unspoken warning lurking in his tone.

"In charge? This isn't about who's in charge! I thought we had a plan? What happened to that?" I was shouting now; I could feel the tension growing between us.

"We needed the truck, so I _got_ the damn truck!" Nate hitched a thumb over his shoulder to the still running hummer, "What the hell is your problem?"

"That's _enough,_ boys." Fiona warned, the same edge that I heard in Sam's warning mirrored in her own. I knew I should just be the bigger man and back down, defuse the situation…but I just couldn't make myself. Nate's actions were just too reckless to be ignored.

"We could be walking into a trap because we don't have enough time for surveillance and have no choice but to go in blind. Didn't you think of any of that? We had a plan for a reason!" I shouted.

"What, did you wanted to hog all the glory to impress your girlfriend? Is that it?" Nate sneered.

Fiona tried hard to push us apart. We ignored her. She forced herself between us, only succeeding in making a small gap. I sensed Sam behind me, more than I heard him, the tension in his presence conveying to me that I shouldn't be picking this fight. Sully stood behind Nate, trying hard to talk him down and simultaneously preparing for a fight.

Nate's comment irked me, more than it should have. I stared at the man, absolutely furious, and I didn't know why. I was unaware of my surroundings. All I wanted to do was beat some sense in the idiot in front of me. My hand twitched; balling itself into a fist. Nate seemed to spot my movements and instantly prepared for impact. Seconds later, Fiona captured my fist and tore my attention away from Nate. A gun went off behind me, causing everyone to jump.

"Everyone calm down." Elena spoke in a soft and calm voice as she lowered her pistol to her side.

I noticed Sully, one hand pressed against Nate's chest, slowly pushing him backwards until he visibly relaxed. "Calm down, kid. We're in no position to start jumping down each other's throats here."

I relaxed a little as Fiona pulled me away; her voice was calming and un-accusing. "What is wrong?"

I had no answer. She continued, "We needed the truck. Nathan and I took it early. I know this isn't how we normally do things, but we aren't in a normal situation, Michael. We could use a little spontaneity."

She was right. I hated to admit it, but she was right. Fiona continued, "The one thing we need to ensure you safely get in and out of the compound is knowledge of what is on the inside, which we have no way of doing, right?"

I hadn't mentioned it before because I didn't want everyone to lose hope or faith in the plan…or start a riot. "No matter what, we're going in blind."

"Exactly what I was thinking when I helped steal the Hummer." Fiona smiled at me, no doubt pleased with herself for calming me down.

I turned to Nate, who was glaring at me over Sully's shoulder. Elena was beside him, talking to him out of my earshot. I had a feeling that their conversation was similar to the one Fiona and I were having. Sam and Sully stood between both parties with crossed arms, like they were bodyguards. I needed to patch things up with Nate as quickly as possible. Problem was, I had no idea why I snapped at him, and that made it even more difficult to apologize.

"Everyone good or do we need to break out the rulers?" Sully asked.

I ignored his question and approached Nate, "I'm sorry Nate. I over-reacted when I should have been thanking you."

He paused for a moment, looking into my eyes as if searching for sincerity. He let out a short sigh and ran his fingers through his short brown hair before speaking, causing it to stand up in random places. "Yeah, I'm sorry too. I guess I really should've shared my wacky and impromptu plan with the rest of the group. Like I said, planning, or even sticking to a plan, is _not_ one of my strong points."

We shook hands and all the leftover tension melted away. Collectively, everyone shifted their attention to what we needed to do next. A change of subject seemed like the right way to forget about the argument.

"Now that we have the Hummer, we can focus on how we're going to use it to get in." I started, as we all leaned around the hood of the Hummer, after someone had shut it off.

"Elena and I will have to be in the Hummer when it hits the fence…it's the only way." Sam explained.

"Won't it electrocute us?" she asked.

"It shouldn't." Sam said. He sounded confident.

"I can shoot the electric box at the moment of impact." Fiona suggested, "Just in case."

"Can you make that shot?" Elena asked. She sounded a little envious.

"Yes, she definitely can." Nate said as Fiona nodded. Elena shot him a puzzled look, no doubt wondering how he could know something like that.

"We should zip-tie one of the guards to the steering wheel, and prop the other in the passenger seat. That way you can get closer before they start shooting. Assuming they won't start shooting at their own men." I stated.

"One of us needs to drive so we can get the truck up to speed when we get near the fence." Sam said, looking at Elena.

"I can do it." she suggested with a slight grin on her face, "I'm smaller and I can hide behind the dash better."

"Yeah, she's a hell of a wheel man! She's saved my ass on many occasions." Nate boasted, hugging Elena close.

"Good. I'll hide in the back." Sam said, seemingly content with their part of the plan.

"I would hang on to something sturdy, Sam." Sully suggested. He seemed to be reminiscing about something. Probably a hairy situation that he had been in involving Elena's driving skills.

I decided to keep my comments about Fiona's driving being just as scary to myself. "Nate and I will be approaching from the back of the compound, as far away from you two as possible. Elena, you should drive through the gate; it's the weakest point of the fence."

"I agree. Less of a jarring impact for us too." Sam said.

"I can handle that." Elena grinned.

I moved my left hand forwards to draw a model of the fence in the dust on the hood of the Hummer. My shoulder screamed in pain at the movement; it needed medical attention bad. I groaned and tried to roll my shoulder into a more comfortable position.

"You okay, Mike?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, just need to get my shoulder fixed." I said.

"You gonna be able to climb over the fence with that bum shoulder?" Nate asked.

"Yeah, I'm good." My shoulder pinched again, the annoying slug buried deep in the muscle reminding me once again that it was still in there.

Fiona caught the look on my face and instantly started to worry, "That bullet needs to come out, or you won't be able to climb."

"I can get it out." Nate offered. He seemed confident with his abilities as a field medic.

The idea of field surgery with a pocket knife made me cringe, but I had no other choice. Fiona was right, if the slug stayed in it could seriously mess up my shoulder and I would endanger our plan.

"I would appreciate it." I agreed, not reflecting my distaste of knives cutting into my shoulder with absence of pain-killers.

"Follow me, good sir." Nate said, waving me over to his tent.

As Nate prepared his knife by wiping it off on his pants, and holding it in the flame of Sully's lighter, I seated my self on a large rock nearby and pulled off my bloody shirt bandage.

Fiona and Elena sat down around the extinguished fire pit and turned their backs to me. I could hear parts of their conversation.

"How long have you and Nate been married?" Fiona asked, making small talk.

"umm, probably about two years now."

"Wow, congratulations!"

"Thanks." I couldn't see her, but I imagined Elena was grinning, "How about you and Michael? How long have you two been married?"

Fiona looked away briefly, digging her toe into the sand. "We're not…"

"Oh. Sorry…" Elena apologized for assuming.

"It's okay." Fiona consoled, breaking through the awkwardness in Elena's voice, "We've been dating on and off for years. Last summer we moved in together."

"Can I ask you something?" Elena asked shyly.

"Sure." Fiona smiled.

"How do you deal with it? Michael's work, I mean…he seems like…"

"Michael is married to his work. I'm guessing Nate is too?" Fiona suggested, helping Elena out with the question.

Elena nodded, "Sometimes, I feel like hunting treasure is more important to him than…" She trailed off.

"Don't think like that. I know I only just met you, but I can tell that you are the most important thing in his life…"

Nate stepped between me and the conversation I was eavesdropping on, "Ready?"

"Yeah." I replied, looking back at the girls. They had already moved on to another topic, leaving me to wonder about Fiona's answer. Did she believe something similar to what she'd told Elena, or was she under the impression that my work was more important to me than she was? I felt Nate's blade push into my flesh, completely interrupting that line of thought. I gritted my teeth and squeezed my eyes shut, preparing for the worst.

I flashed back to a few years ago. Sitting in my apartment, same situation, same shoulder. My brother Nate was digging a bullet out of my shoulder, after an assassin had shot me while I was trying to save him from my booby-trapped apartment. He had been trying to break in, take his cut of our money early to pay a gambling debt. Nate tended to be a bit irrational, and jumped head-first into a lot of things without thinking too much about them. Come to think of it, Nathan Drake reminded me a lot of Nate Weston. I flashed back to the fight earlier. I had a feeling that I had subconsciously yelled at the man because he reminded me a lot of my brother. Guess I was becoming used to men named Nate messing up my plans. I felt the blade dig in a little deeper, scrape against the slug, and slide underneath it.

"This isn't the first time someone named Nate has dug a bullet out of you. If I didn't know any better I'd scold you for forming a bad habit." Sam joked. Glad to see I wasn't the only one who thought the two Nate's were a lot alike.

The bullet slipped to the surface without much hassle. Nate tossed me the bloody slug before wiping his knife off on a clean spot of my shirt bandage. "Feel better?"

The ache in my shoulder slowly slipped away till it was bearable, "I'm good. Thank you Nate." I rolled the slug around in my hand, 30-06, no wonder it had hurt like hell.

I dropped the slug onto the ground, and locked gazes with Fiona. Hers lingered for a moment than looked away. I decided to wait on questioning her about her conversation with Elena until after this was over.

"Okay, so Mike and I shimmy over the fence in the back after the truck crash." Nate started.

"Then Sully and I take out the snipers." Fiona hoisted her sniper rifle higher on her shoulder.

"Then we find Brennan," I said. Fiona looked at me expectantly, "so we can hand deliver him to Fiona."

"Then we can get the hell out of this bloody desert." Sully added.

"I hear ya, brother." Sam agreed, patting Sully's shoulder.

Fiona smiled at me, "We should go now."

Her urgency seemed like impatience, but I agreed with her. The truck should have returned to the compound by now. We only had maybe an hour before someone noticed its absence. Everyone split up and prepared for the mission. Nate offered me an extra black t-shirt that he had in the tent. I pulled it over my head grateful that my shoulder wasn't hurting much anymore. In no time at all we ready to go.

"Alright, stay in radio contact and be careful." I knew that they were probably tired of hearing me tell them to 'be careful' by now, but I felt that I couldn't stress it enough.

I turned away from the group, and walked behind the Hummer. Fiona followed me as I had expected. I wrapped my arm around her waist and pulled her close.

"My turn to tell _you_ to be careful, Michael," she said quietly, "you two could be walking into a trap."

I started to ask her about earlier, but stopped myself. She looked up at me, and I pulled her in close for a long kiss goodbye. Hopefully it wouldn't be our last.

Everyone finished loading their guns and said their goodbyes and good lucks. I started to walk towards the spot where Nate and I would hop the fence and realized he wasn't following. I turned to call him over and saw him and Elena standing near the Hummer. It appeared to be that Nate was still uncomfortable with Elena's part in the mission. I patiently waited as Elena placed a reassuring kiss on his cheek and climbed into the cab between the two unconscious guards.

"Alright Mikey, let's get this party started!" Nate's tone was cheerful, but his eyes gave him away. He was as nervous as I was.

We positioned ourselves a few yards away from the rear of the compound, hiding behind a cluster of rocks.

"Sully, you and Fi ready to go?" Nate asked over the radio connection. There was a little pause in between replies, probably because that radio had to be manually switched on and off every time.

"The birds are perched. Ready for action, kid!" Sully joked.

Nate laughed a little before calling out to Sam and Elena, "Ok Elena, everyone is set. You all head on and please be careful."

"Ok Nate, do me a favor and stop worrying so much. You're acting like more of a girl than me!" Elena giggled. "Hold on to your ass, Sam!" she added before the line clicked off.

I made sure Nate didn't see me quietly laughing. He mumbled something that was probably very smart ass before we crouched in the ready position. After a few minutes the radio clicked back on and before either of us could ask what was wrong we heard Sully and Fiona talking to each other.

"So, did it hurt when you fell?" Sully asked in a suave voice.

I could see the color starting to drain from Nate's face. He tried to act normal as he hid his face, no doubt in order to cuss out Sully.

"What?" Fiona asked, not expecting this at all.

"You know, when you fell from Heaven? That's a pretty long fall, and I was only concerned for your well being." Sully chuckled.

I should have been mad but watching Nate's reaction instead was way more fun, "Sully!" he whispered harshly, "Sully! Don't do that! We can hear you!"

"Can it sweetheart, Michael can hear you." Fiona retorted calmly, "I'm flattered, but you aren't my type."

I imagined Sully shrugging, "You don't know what you're missing, Doll." he chuckled again.

"Damn it, Sully….you dirty old man!" Nate turned back around as the radio switched back off, trying very hard to pretend that nothing had happened. I turned my face away so Nate couldn't see me quietly laughing. I decided to let him think that he had pulled it off.

"Truck should be here any minute." I said with a straight face.

"Yeah." His voice cracked a little. He cleared his throat, "I mean, yeah, it should. We should get ready to run."

Minutes later we could hear the Hummer's engine echoing through the valley. Fi came over the radio, "Get ready boys, Sam and Elena are on the runway."

We didn't reply, but peered around the rocks waiting for the fireworks. The truck clamored into view, rolling at a steady speed down the hill. Suddenly, it lurched forwards and started rapidly gaining speed. The radio crackled to life, "Um, Sam? This is gonna hurt a lot worse than we thought…new plan!" Elena exclaimed.

It took a second for her words to sink in, but I saw the reason for her alarm. Upon sight of the truck, three guarded Hummers had started approaching the gates along the line of the fence.

_When you're a spy: Sometimes your mission requires you to drive a two-ton Hummer through an electric fence gate. Sometimes it requires you to knock down the fence and play bumper cars with other two-ton Hummers. Either way, the resulting shower of sparks and unexpected attack make for a dramatic distraction._

Over the radio, I heard the sound of Elena's voice again; she must have left the radio on, "Give me a knife!"

Subtle noises of a switch blade coupled with the opening and closing of a door and a body thudding to the ground. The guard who had been 'driving' thudded to the ground and rolled away from the moving vehicle.

"She didn't…" Nate started; he was interrupted by Sam shoving the other guard's unconscious form out of the passenger door. I saw him visibly tense as the guards in the compound started shooting; I mirrored his action, unsure of what they would decide to do next.

The Hummer barreled forward and slammed into the gate. The sound of Fiona's gunshot was muffled completely by the commotion. Elena cut the wheel sharp and fish-tailed the Hummer into the closest fence panel. The massive ten foot fence crumbled under the impact and landed hard on top of the convoy of Hummers that were stalking them. Sam, taking cover as best he could behind the dash, eliminated the drivers. Elena gunned the Hummer again, plowing a trail over what was left of the gate. She took out guards with the truck, while Sam shot the ones that were dodging her wrath.

"That's my girl!" Nate exclaimed, suddenly excited instead of worried.

Part of the fence settled onto the sand with a loud crash and pulled the rest of the fence into pieces. A gap appeared in front of Nate and I as two fence posts ripped apart. I almost cheered for joy; my shoulder would definitely appreciate not having to climb today. I detected a glimmer off the roof of the building and looked up just in time to see a sniper fall backwards.

"All clear, Michael." Fiona stated in a cheery voice, "Go get that bastard."

Nate and I dashed for the building. We slipped through the super convenient gap in the fence and entered the building through the back door.

"Hold on, Sam!" Elena yelled in our ear buds again. I heard what sounded like the slap of a gear shift and a slight grinding of gears.

Suddenly, the building rumbled around us and shook violently. I heard the sounds of men yelling and feet falling rapidly towards the front of the building. Nate and I pressed against the wall of the corridor we were in as dozens of guards ran towards the front door in the adjoined hallway in front of us. They didn't notice us, and after they had all disappeared we slipped down the hallway in the opposite direction.

"What happened?" I asked to anyone who would answer.

"Elena reversed into the building. She and Sam are picking off all the guards inside for you. Sully and I are covering them."

"Nice work!" I complemented, making a mental note to buy them all a drink after this was over.

Nate and I ran down the corridor. It was our turn to act. Luckily, since we had no idea where to go, the floor plan was pretty open and the building only had two stories. It was obvious that our destination would be the large office on the second floor with bullet proof glass and a steel door. I grabbed the assault rifle, which had been resting on my back by its sling. Nate did the same. We snuck up on the office and peered into the window. Brennan was staring into a computer monitor laughing at the carnage outside; it seemed he had no idea we were in the building.

I reached for the door knob and rested my hand on it. I looked at Nate; he nodded back, gun at the ready. We burst into the room, Nate first, guns aimed on Tyler Brennan. Brennan wheeled around in mock surprise, and then his expression changed to a sinister grin.

"Well, I must say, I never anticipated you two working together. I'm surprised at you Michael, working with a complete stranger? I thought you hated uncertainty. And you, Drake wasn't it? You are a problem than I hadn't anticipated." Brennan took a step forward and trained his gun on Nate.

"Drop the gun, asshole." Nate ordered.

"No, you drop the gun." Brennan retorted. He aimed the pistol back at me. "I might get shot, but I can take at least one of you with me." he mused.

"It's over Brennan." I glared into his eyes, "This ends now."

He looked surprised, "You really think I'll just surrender to you?"

I didn't. Not for a second. If any of us started shooting, it was unlikely all of us would walk out alive. I needed to talk Brennan down. It had worked before, but this time I didn't have an angle.

"Think about it Brennan…" I started.

"You know that's not going to work." he sneered, "I'm not some street-thug that you can trick into surrendering. And why would I give in when I still have cards to play?"

"What are you talking about?" Nate snapped, beating me to the question.

"You're little wife may have fancy wheel work, but she is no match for the bomb that I put beneath the Hummer you stole. I believe Sam is in there too? Pity."

"You bastard!" Nate yelled, panic slipping into his voice.

I remained silent, sure my face was giving away that I was as nervous as Nate was.

"Drop your guns and slide them to me, or I barbecue your team." Brennan said with a smile on his face as he produced a small detonator.

I reluctantly lowered my gun to the ground and kicked it towards Brennan. Nate dropped his from his hands and kicked it away. Brennan sneered and slammed his finger onto the button.

"NO!" Nate yelled. He lurched forward and tackled Brennan to the ground before our opponent had a chance to squeeze a shot off.

A deafening roar shook the building. I heard the ceiling crack loudly as I moved to help Nate. Time seemed to stand still as we tried to wrestle the gun from Brennan. I felt a sharp pain in the back of my skull at the same time I heard a gunshot. My vision went dark, but not before I saw blood soak the side of Nate's shirt. I hit the ground as Brennan got the upper hand on Nathan and shoved a gun into his forehead. Then, everything went black.


	5. Part Four: Nate's Escape

Part Four: Nate's Escape

I lifted my head up. Pain shot through my skull, neck, and back - scratch that – pretty much everywhere on my body was hurting! I forced my eyes open; everything around me was dark and fuzzy. I blinked, trying hard to make the blurriness I was seeing disappear. Where was I? The grey concrete walls around me were dim and cool. I blinked again; the room finally came into focus.

I was in the middle of what looked like a prison. There were no doors or windows anywhere, only a small hatch in the ceiling. I assumed I was underground. The only furniture in the room was the chair I was bound too by my wrists and the lonely light bulb hanging about a foot above my head. I shifted my weight to look behind me; my bound hands pulled against the wood of the chair. I tried hard to remember why I was down here. I became aware of an oozing wound on my forehead. I must have hit my head somehow, but I couldn't remember what had happened. I turned again and looked behind me. Two things happened at once: I saw Mike tied in a chair directly behind mine, and I became painfully aware that I had a gunshot wound in my side. I groaned in pain and turned harder to check on Mike.

I could see the back of Mike's head clearly; a huge gash was leaking blood. He had gotten hit; I remembered that much. Mike and I had faced off against Brennan. I had jumped him first. I must have lost after the burly guard snuck up on us and hit Mike with the butt of an AK. I nudged Mike unsure if he was okay or not, "Hey, wake up!"

He didn't respond at first, but slowly lifted his head up when I nudged him a second time, "What happened?" he asked, examining our predicament just as I had.

"You got whacked by an AK…and I don't remember what happened to me."

"You got shot." Mike added.

"Thanks, I was just sitting here pondering on why I feel like total shit. That solved that mystery." I snapped. I didn't mean to be such a smart-ass; it just tended to slip out when I was stressed.

"Is it bad?" Mike asked, ignoring my sarcasm.

I twisted to look at my side, "It's just a graze. I'll live."

The word 'live' seemed to strike Mike in the face. He turned quickly to face me, "Are they okay?" His voice sounded a little panicky, as if he'd just remembered something important.

"Who?" As soon as I said it, the fight flashed back to me. "Elena." I whispered.

"Are they okay?" Mike asked again more urgently this time, as if expecting me to know anything different than he did.

"I don't know." I choked out. Elena could be hurt…_dying…_and I was tied up in some basement…and there was nothing I could do.

"What if…" Mike started, but I cut him off with a nudge.

"Don't say it, Mike." I snapped back. I did not want to hear a 'what if' right now. I yanked against the rope tying our wrists together, "We don't know what happened."

"We have to get out of here before Brennan…" Michael trailed off. I felt him pull hard at his restraints.

"Before I what?" Brennan's voice invaded the basement. He walked down the ladder into the small space.

"Glad to see you back so soon, cupcake." I sneered.

Brennan frowned at me. I was beaten up and tied down, and he still couldn't make me shut up.

"Don't make me shove a gag in that smart-ass mouth of yours." he warned as he approached us.

I laughed hard, despite the sharp pain in my sides, "That's what she said."

His fist connected with my jaw, hard enough to draw blood. I laughed again and spit blood on his fancy shoes, "You hit like a girl."

Brennan drew back his fist again but Mike intervened, "What do you want with us Brennan?"

Brennan lowered his fist seeming to come to his senses, "You'll know soon enough." A loud noise from above ground interrupted him. He turned and left the room, acting totally casual.

I turned around to face Mike, "Why didn't he just kill us earlier?"

"I don't know." He replied, returning his attention to working his hands free.

"Why did he leave just now?" I asked.

"I really have no idea." Mike repeated, "Brennan always has an agenda. He wants us for something."

"Any ideas as to what that might be?"

"Not at all." Mike whispered as Brennan came back.

"I will make you a deal, Michael." as he approached us again, this time walking around to Mike's side.

Mike didn't react at all as Brennan continued, "You agree to work with me, and I'll spare Fiona."

"I don't believe you." Michael said in a cold voice.

"I have her, Michael. If you do what I ask, I'll let you and Fiona go."

"What about, Nate?" he asked. Judging by his tone of voice, Michael was showing no emotion at all. I stayed quiet, hoping Michael knew what he was doing.

"You haven't agreed to it yet, so I can't promise you anything." Brennan sneered.

"What about the others?" Michael asked, the question sounded loaded.

Brennan laughed with mock surprise, "You're asking about Sam and Elena? You must have hit your head pretty hard."

"Where is she?!" I blurted out, unable to stay silent anymore. I may have been ruining whatever plan Michael was spinning, but I had to know. I had to know if she was okay.

"Elena is dead." The words struck me hard as Brennan moved to my side to smirk at me.

I felt my pulse quicken; all I saw was the joy on Brennan's face. I lunged forward shouting obscenities at Brennan. He laughed in my face as I stayed put, still bound tightly to the chair.

Mike retained his cool composure, even as Brennan informed him that Sam hadn't 'made it' either. I didn't understand how he could be so calm after we had just found out that the people we loved were dead. Brennan had said that Fiona was captured but was Sully okay? My head was spinning in circles. It felt like the ropes were burning into my skin. I needed to get out of this chair. Brennan needed to die.

A cheery cell phone ring broke through the swirling red hatred in my mind. Brennan answered his phone and disappeared into the ceiling once again so we couldn't overhear him.

"Mike we need too…"

Mike interrupted me, "Shh."

"What?" I asked loudly.

"Be quiet. Now."

I closed my mouth, confused, but I obeyed. Then, I heard it too. A light buzzing noise that hadn't been there a second ago, it was coming from….my ear? "THE RADIO!" I silently exclaimed as the buzzing gave way to a woman's voice.

"_Michael. Are you there?"_

"Fi? Can you hear me?" Mike asked. He sounded happy to hear her voice.

"_Michael?! Thank God you're alive! Are you and Nate hurt?"_

Brennan returned right as Mike was about to respond, "Hostage." Mike whispered. I hoped Fiona got the message.

"Sorry about that…where were we?" Brennan punched me in the gut. I made no sound indicating I was in pain, so he did it a couple more times.

"You we're about to tell me what you want from me." Mike acted as if Brennan wasn't doing anything to me.

"It's complicated, Michael." Brennan stated, rubbing his knuckles. "I brought you here to kill you, but now I realize that you are actually more useful to me alive. Call it a leap of faith."

"Thanks." Mike added calmly, "Does this mean I should send you birthday cards now?"

"You joke, but I couldn't be more serious." Brennan turned away from us both, as if deep in thought. I guessed he was trying to make us talk by going completely silent.

_"Michael, cough twice if you and Nathan are hurt."_

Michael subtly cleared his throat. For some reason, I thought that wasn't going to cut it. I coughed loudly twice, making sure Fi could hear me. Mike threw me a dirty look for being so obvious. I was still a little dazed from my head wound and didn't think about what would happen if Brennan found out that we still had our ear buds. I looked at Mike apologetically.

Brennan wheeled back around, "Why are you coughing?" he asked suddenly, eyes trained on me.

"I cough every time I get punched by a lady." I got another fist to my chin for that, but at least I had distracted Brennan from thinking Mike and I were communicating with someone.

"You decide, Michael. Either you work for me, or I kill everyone you know." Brennan disappeared into the ceiling, "You have five minutes till I come back for an answer."

There was a moment of irritating silence before a booming voice came over the radio. "_Where are you?"_

"Sam?" Michael asked. He sounded as shocked as I felt.

"Sam's alive?! I thought…what about?" I couldn't seem to complete sentences.

"_I'm here, Nate. We're all okay." _Elena's voice said softly.

I sighed. I felt like a ton of weight had been lifted off of my chest, "Elena…" I managed, far too happy for words.

"We're tied up in a basement." Michael delivered calmly.

"_Mikey…half the building collapsed after Brennan's bomb. We're working out a way to get to you." _Sam informed us.

"What happened?" I asked.

"_Sam and I overheard Brennan threatening you two about the bomb, over the radio. We jumped out of the Hummer and ran like hell towards the sniper perch." _Elena said in a reassuring voice.

I had completely forgotten that they could hear everything going on around Mike and me. We should've never surrendered our guns.

"_When I heard the gunshot…" _Fiona started then stopped herself abruptly.

"It's okay. I was the one that got shot." I said calmly, assuring Fi that Mike was fine. Again, I wasn't thinking straight.

"_What?!" _Elena yelled. I hadn't meant to worry her.

"It's just a scratch! Sorry, Brennan's gun went off when I tackled him to the ground!" I corrected, hoping she wouldn't think I was lying to make her feel better. We weren't out of trouble yet. We all needed to think clearly.

"_Oh." _Elena still sounded worried.

"_Hang in there, Kid." _Sully added_._

"_Work on getting free, and on getting you both out of there." _Fiona stated.

"Nate, reach into my back pocket." Mike said suddenly.

I turned around to look at him, "I…I really didn't expect this from you…"

Mike looked like he wanted to slap me, "You smart ass, I have a pocket knife! Brennan didn't search us, and I can't reach it since my hands are _tied._"

"Oh, well that's a whole different matter…" I said as I reached into Mike's pocket and pulled out a tiny fold-out knife. I began sawing at the inch thick ropes trapping my hands in place. It was slow-going because the knife was dull. "Really Mike? You couldn't have sharpened your back up knife before jumping out of that plane?"

"We don't have a lot of time. Brennan is coming back in two minutes." Mike informed the rest of the crew completely ignoring me, "He'll be expecting my answer."

"_What does he want?" _Fiona asked, a large crash echoed over the radio. I assumed they were throwing rubble around.

"He wants me to work for him. Wouldn't tell me why or what it was."

"_Keep stallin-" _The radio cut Fiona off, probably because we were underground.

Brennan entered again from the ceiling. We needed to distract him. I decided to buy Mike some time.

"Hey! You're back! I was worried about ya!" I said in my most sarcastic and annoying voice.

"I am getting tired of your damn mouth!" Brennan stormed towards me.

"I'm getting tired of you not doing anything. Last time I was held captive it was by a lady, and she was way scarier than you!" Kidney punch, I groaned inwardly.

I connected a kick with Brennan's shin - bet he regretted not tying my legs down. I went for another, but in seconds he was nearly on top of me. A flurry of jaw, gut, and chest punches pounded my body. I tried hard to not make any noise as the punches got rougher and more frequent.

My head spun. I was getting a little dazed from the pain when he stopped pounding on me, "That the best you got?" I spit out, proud that I hadn't cracked during the worst of the assault. I lifted my heavy head to look Brennan in the eye.

His iron fist connected hard with the side of my head. I heard the radio buzz back to life. I let my head slump down. It hurt like hell but I was happy that the radio was working again. I let my hand start subtly working on the ropes again, pretending that he had knocked me out. I had bought Mike some time. I just wasn't sure how much.

"Can't take a punch, can you?" Brennan teased. He reached back to hit me again.

"Brennan!" Mike's voice commanded, "Leave him alone."

"I'm sorry, were we bothering you?" Brennan walked around me towards Mike.

The radio buzzed. I couldn't hear any clear voices, just strange noises. Clanking, banging, and muffled yelling. I hoped that the group was somewhere close. I wanted to get the hell out of this place before Brennan decided to kill us or decided to break out the brass knuckles.

"What do you want me to do?" Mike asked again, not confirming or denying that he would work for Brennan.

"It really doesn't matter. Either you work for me, or I kill Fiona."

"Where is she?" Michael asked, in the same cool voice he'd been using this whole time. He must have been trained to stay this cool by the CIA. To be honest, it was freaky and unnatural.

_ "What do you mean this isn't working? You have a better idea?" _Sully's voice boomed.

"I have her upstairs."

"Prove to me that's she's alive, and we will talk." I imagined that Mike was smiling inwardly that he knew that Brennan was just blowing smoke.

"You are in no position to make a deal." Brennan sneered. Mike didn't reply. I assumed a staring contest had ensued.

_"Everyone get out of here! This wall is coming down!" _Fi yelled in my ear.

_ "That's not a good…" _Sam started to say.

_ "You got a better idea, Sam? I'm listening!"_

_ "Everyone get behind something!" _Sully ordered.

I wondered what was going on upstairs as I tried harder to cut myself loose.

"Prove it." Mike said after a long pause. Brennan turned to leave but started pacing between us and the ladder, like he was arguing with himself.

I cut a strand, and the ropes loosened against my wrists - just a little more. A riveting explosion rattled the walls of the basement. The ear bud went dead silent. Brennan looked like he was about to freak out. He climbed up the stairs as fast as he could. I heard him yell at a guard to watch us.

The man who descended into the basement looked like a bear. He was chocolate in color, huge, hairy, and had pearly white teeth as he grinned evilly at Mike and me.

"You out yet?" Mike whispered. I passed him the knife as my response.

"What's happenin', Smoky?" I asked, hoping the guard would come close to me. "Been preventing any forest fires lately?"

It worked like a charm, "What'd you say to me?"

"I said, 'What's happenin' Smoky'…you know like the bear? The brown bear?"

That did it. Smoky took a swing at me. I broke free and grabbed his arm before he could follow through on his punch. I tackled Smoky to the ground, using his own weight against him. I thudded onto his chest as he hit the ground. A millisecond later I had the upper hand, planting punch after punch to his head. He groaned in pain as I scrambled his brain. Michael broke free and dove for the guard's gun.

Suddenly, Brennan dropped to the basement ground with a shotgun aimed on us.

"Kick the gun too me!" Brennan yelled. He sounded annoyed.

Mike groaned quietly and kicked the Desert Eagle to Brennan. The guard pulled himself to his feet and walked across the room. Brennan hid behind him. In a flash, hoping for the element of surprise, I grabbed the knife from Michael's hand and flung it hard at guard. The blade plunged into the guard's throat, and he flopped to the ground.

"Nice." Mike stated, probably as glad as I was that the odds were finally in our favor again.

"Thanks, learned that in Tibet." I replied coolly.

Brennan pumped the shotgun and trained it on me.

"I wouldn't do that." Michael warned.

"And why would I listen to you?" He turned his attention and shotgun back to Michael, who still looked calm even though Brennan's finger was twitching against the trigger.

A small blur of movement appeared in the hatch as a body dropped to the ground. The woman's arm wrapped around Brennan's neck, her other hand shoved a pistol into his temple. The weight of her impact had caught Brennan off guard, the shotgun flung upwards. He squeezed off a shot into the ceiling. Concrete dust sprinkled onto Mike and me. Words could not explain how happy I was to see Fiona.

"Drop it." Fi ordered, as Brennan gripped the shotgun again.

Brennan hesitated, no doubt calculating whether he could pump the gun and fire before Fi could shoot him. A disgusted look crept onto his face, making me laugh out loud.

"Defeat sucks huh?" I sneered, making him curse me.

"Now!" Fi yelled.

He dropped the shotgun to the ground. Fiona grinned triumphantly and pulled the trigger. Brennan fell to the ground.

I sighed, glad it was over. "It's good to see ya, Fi." I walked across the room to give Fiona a hug before heading toward the ladder and the ceiling hatch. I was itching to get out of this hole.

"Hey." I heard Michael say softly. I turned to look, thinking it was directed to me.

Michael had wrapped his arms around Fiona and was 'thanking' her for saving our lives in a much more intimate way then I had. I just grinned as I continued to climb out, not a bad idea Mike. I climbed upstairs to find Elena.

She, Sully, and Sam were waiting for me anxiously at the top of the stairs. Everyone looked a little shocked to see me climbing out of the hole. I got the impression that Fiona had ran ahead of them without telling them what she planned to do.

"We're good!" I said cheerfully, giving them the thumbs up. Everyone visibly relaxed.

Elena hugged me before suddenly yanking up my shirt, apparently wanting to make sure I hadn't been lying about my gunshot wound before. She looked up at my face. I smiled to reassure her, but I'm sure I looked more like a blood-stained sack of crap then her husband.

Her face confirmed my suspicions, "What happened?" she asked with a sad voice.

"My smart-ass mouth." I joked, rubbing her shoulders.

"Nate…" she shook her head.

"I had to distract him from killing me right away, so I pissed him off instead."

"I'm glad it worked…" she laughed pulling me in for another hug.

"I'm glad you didn't get blown up…I thought the worst when…" she cut me off with a kiss, seemingly ignoring my bloody lip and nose.

We broke apart as Mike and Fi joined the rest of the group, "What happened?" Mike asked the others. I was curious too; the details over the radio had been a little vague.

"After the truck blew up, we all climbed into the collapsed building trying to get to you two and Brennan. We lost the radio signal when Brennan took you to the basement." Sully started.

"The front door was gone, and we couldn't get to the basement from the backdoor, so we tried to start moving rubble." Sam continued.

"That wasn't working, so I changed the plan." Fiona grinned, hugging Mike again.

Sam let out an amused huff, "She means that she flipped out, and made a door with C4."

"I didn't flip out." Fiona said defensively.

"You definitely flipped out." Sam said as Fiona stared daggers into him.

"It was a brilliant idea." Elena defended Fiona, "Fiona saved the day."

"Yes, she did." Michael draped an arm over her shoulders. She leaned into his chest.

"Well, we destroyed basically everything except for one Hummer. Guess that's our ride out of this joint!" Sully exclaimed, a fresh cigar clenched in between his teeth.

We all celebrated our victory by looking around at the damage we'd inflicted on the compound. Everything was torn to shreds and littered with papers, shell-casings, and the remains of our attackers. It was a gruesome sight, but we were all in too good of a mood to notice.

"Um…guys…how are we going to get out of Australia?" Elena asked as we passed Brennan's office.

We all stopped. I hadn't even thought about that. We had no plane waiting, no boat. Absolutely _no_ ride back home. Shit. I looked at Mike and he mirrored my worried look. Everyone thought for a second, and Sully was the first to present an idea, "What about Chloe?"

"That would work!" I exclaimed.

"I'm sure Brennan has a phone." Sully suggested.

I rifled through what remained of Brennan's office until I found a satellite phone. I would have jumped for joy, but everything hurt too much.

"Who's Chloe?" Mike asked.

"She's an Australian friend of ours…" Elena slapped the back of my head as I spoke, I couldn't hide the pained grimace that that action warranted. "What?! And OWW by the way!"

"Where did Chloe say she was going last time we saw her?" Elena asked, practically staring a hole through me.

"She said she was going home to…" I trailed off, "Oh. Guess we aren't calling Chloe…"

"There you go…" Elena giggled before kissing my cheek. I took that as her apology for smacking me.

"No…you should totally still call Chloe." Sully grinned knowingly at me. I shook my head.

"What about Jesse?" Fi suggested.

"Perfect." Sam agreed.

Mike took the phone, and dialed a number. He clicked it on speaker. While it rang, Fiona explained that Jesse was an ex-spy friend of theirs in Miami and that he could get us a plane back to the states easily.

"Jesse Porter."

"Jesse, how's it going?" Michael asked, as if he was going to ask a completely normal favor. Maybe this was normal, I had no idea.

"Where in the _hell _are you guys?" Jesse sounded a bit relieved.

"It's a long story…" Mike started.

"Pierce practically beat down my door asking me if I knew where you were. When I told her that I had no idea, she told me that there was a leak at the agency and that someone had tampered with the mission she had sent you on. She flipped out trying to figure out where that plane had dumped you guys."

"Australia actually." Mike informed. "Brennan was behind this, but he's dead now."

"Damn. Everyone okay?" Jesse asked.

"We're all a little banged up, but we're alive. Think you can arrange a ride back to Miami for us?"

"Yeah, I'll call Pierce and tell her to send a transport to the city you're closest to."

"We need something that seats six."

"Six?" Jesse sounded confused, "Pierce said Sam and Fi were with you."

"They are. We met another team who helped us take down Brennan. They need out of this country too." I wanted to say hi by cracking a joke, but I just too tired to think of a good one.

Jesse chuckled a bit. "Alright, I'll make it happen, Mike. Can you make it to Sydney in three days?"

I nodded at Mike. I was confident we could, especially with two aggressive drivers.

"We'll be there. Thanks Jesse." Michael clicked off the phone.

"Can we call Chloe now?" Sully asked as we left the remains of the building and walked to the Hummer.

I laughed as I took the phone from Mike and chucked it to Sully, "Knock yourself out, Sullivan."

We climbed into the Hummer, and began the long drive to Sydney. Fiona took first shift driving, so I curled up with Elena in the backseat and fell asleep almost instantly.


	6. Mike's Epilogue

Epilogue 1 – Mike Takes a Page

Miami, FL – Three months later:

The soft clicking of phone keys was the first sound I became aware of as the morning sunlight seeped its way through the loft's windows. I rolled over to see Fiona laying her phone down beside her on the bed. I wrapped my arm around her waist, "Who have you been talking to all morning?"

"Elena." Fiona rolled to look at me, "We have stayed in touch after they left."

"She's awake at…" I glanced at the clock, "Seven in the morning?"

"Different time zones sweetheart."

"Ah, what are they into?" I asked.

"Vacationing overseas in Madrid. I invited them to come down sometime next week."

"Yeah?" I asked as Fiona's phone beeped again.

"Yeah. Sam's coming too; he's excited about drinking with Sully." Fiona climbed out of bed. She returned from the kitchen with two yogurts.

We ate for a moment. I remembered the conversation between Fiona and Elena three months ago. I had been waiting for the right moment to bring it up, but had yet to find it.

Elena and I are going to go shopping when they come in." Fiona smiled at me, "You never made good on the bribe you promised before we went on that mission."

"I kind of forgot, you know, when we were being hunted in the desert." I joked.

"It's okay, I did too." Fiona finished her yogurt, and took a spoonful of mine, "You can come with Elena and I - you can carry our bags."

"Great." I smiled, expecting a fun-filled day of torture, "You and Elena really hit it off huh?"

"Yeah we have a lot in common." Fiona said, the statement sounded loaded to me. I started to ask but then Fiona said, "I think it's cute how Nathan fusses over her well-being."

"Is that your way of saying that you want me to worry about you more during missions?" I asked. I decided that the right moment to address this issue was never going to come, so now was as good a time as any.

She kept her gaze turned away, "I didn't say that…"

"Why do you think I always ask you to cover me in a sniper's perch?" Fiona turned around to look at me; she looked a little confused for a second. I had caught her off guard.

She leaned into my chest, and looked up at me. A grin spread on her lips, "Because I'm an amazing sniper." An unspoken agreement passed between the two of us. We both knew right then that she was the most important thing in my life.

"The best." I pulled her in for a slow kiss.

We laid back down, and she rolled to face me. Her phone pinged again. She grabbed it and sent another text message.

"I got a reservation for us all at The Capital Grille." she grinned at me.

"How?" I asked. "That place was usually booked for five months back."

"I bribed the hostess yesterday." A devilish grin sneaked its way onto her face.

"Where did you get the money for that?" I asked, somehow already knowing the answer.

Fiona got up again and went to her purse that was sitting on the counter. She dug out my wallet and handed it to me before crawling back into bed and planting a kiss on my lips, "Thanks by the way."

Obviously, she had picked my pocket when we were out yesterday. I would have been aggravated, had I not been used to this sort of thing. Plus, it was kind of funny. I decided to throw her off guard for the second time today by doing something spontaneous. It seemed to work for Nate; maybe I could give it a shot once in a while. I scooped her up playfully and set her on the ground before heading to the closet.

"Get dressed, we're going out."

"What?" She looked confused again, "I thought that you had to meet with Pierce in a few hours…"

"Forget that, I'll lie and say I'm sick. We're going out."

"Where?" she asked excitedly; I could tell she was thrilled at this idea.

I grinned as I pulled a black t-shirt over my head, "I have no idea…"


	7. Nate's Epilogue

Epilogue 2 – Nate Has a Plan

Madrid, Spain – Three months and a week later:

Elena, Sully, and I decided to catch a plane to Madrid for a week and a half of nothing but relaxing and sightseeing. Elena had made me promise her to not even think about treasure hunting while we were here, saying she didn't want to have to, and I quote, 'save my ass while on vacation'. I have to admit, doing nothing but relaxing in the pool, roaming the beautiful streets of Madrid, and spending romantic nights with Elena was pretty incredible. I could really get used to it…even the random knockings on the wall from the direction of Sully's room, telling us 'rabbits' to keep it down.

I grinned again at the awesome plan I had concocted. Two days ago I had an idea about planning a surprise dinner for Elena. Yes, I actually have a game plan! I got the idea when she had told me about Fiona's invitation to come visit her, Michael, and Sam in Miami after our vacation was over. I wanted to make the last few days of our stay here the most memorable that I possibly could. I made Sully help me, bribing him with fancy Cuban cigars and Spanish beer. I set up a dinner for two on the northern end of the lake in Retiro Park. I picked the perfect spot: right next to the lake, facing the crystal palace with a beautiful backdrop of the lake, fountain, and waterfall. Sully had just left to go change into his fancy suit so he could retrieve Elena. I was holding my phone in my hand thinking of things to say to get Elena here without giving away the surprise.

A particularly devilish idea crossed my mind as I dialed the phone. She answered after two rings, "Elena! Thank God…" I made my voice sound hushed and hurried.

"What's wrong?" she sounded worried.

"I…I'm sorry, but I broke my promise to you, and now I am in serious trouble with a few Spanish thugs involving a certain priceless artifact that belonged to a nobleman…" I pulled the phone away from my ear to snicker a bit, and to save my eardrums from the verbal onslaught I knew was coming.

"YOU WHAT!?" she was definitely pissed. "Dammit Drake! I'm really-"

I cut her off with a hint of desperation in my voice, "Shit, look Elena I'm really sorry but there's no time! Sully is on the way to get you right now; I need you to get yourself looking snazzy and come save my ass…again."

She didn't reply right off, leading me to believe that she had caught the 'looking snazzy' part and was confused, probably wondering why I needed her to get dressed up. I decided to explain myself before she could question me, "I need you to look your best so you can blend in with the rest of the crowd."

I heard her sigh, "Ok so, where are you exactly?"

"It would take too long to explain over the phone. Just please hurry!" I clicked the end button before she could question me further. I straightened the table cloth and lit the candles before ducking behind the nearest bush to change into my suit jacket.

I ignored the nonstop buzzing of my phone; pretty sure Elena was leaving about forty angry voicemails. After about half an hour or so, I could hear Sully's and Elena's voices as they approached. I could just barely make out what they were saying:

"And why are we in the park again? Do you know how freaking hard it is to hike in these heels?" Elena grumbled. I smiled. She was probably going to leave a nice bruise on my shoulder later for making her hike in the new expensive heels she had bought not long ago.

Sully chuckled, "Nate said the fastest route there was through this park. He said he was at the Crystal Palace, remember it? It's the big pretty place on the lake with a big fountain in front?"

I could see them coming into view, Elena was holding up the hem of her custom-tailored designer dress looking down at the ground most of the time with an angry scowl on her face. Sully was in the lead, an amused smirk plastered on his face, apparently the ride over was just too funny for him to hold back anymore. I quickly placed myself beside the table, a goofy grin playing at my mouth.

"I don't care if he's in Madrid City Hall! I'm still going to kick his promise-breaking…" Elena's snarky remark died in her throat when she spotted the rose petals I had trailed down the path from the table. She followed them until her gaze fell on the table, then on the scenery, and then on me.

"Surprise, Elena!" Sully and I shouted in unison. She looked shocked and pleasantly surprised at the same time.

"It's so beautiful. Wait, you actually planned all this?" she asked as she closed the gap between us.

I smiled down at her before kissing her lightly on the forehead, "Yup, all by my lonesome…well, I did make Sully help."

She smiled before looking around, "Speaking of Sully, where did he run off to?"

"Don't worry, he'll turn up." I said with a grin, leading her by the hand to the table. I pulled her chair out for her and made sure she was seated before taking my own seat across from her. She looked around at the lake and palace in complete awe.

"This is so romantic Nate." she couldn't stop smiling as she laced her fingers with mine on top of the table.

"Yeah, and there is no other lady I would ever want to bring here." I placed a soft kiss on her hand right as Sully reappeared holding a bottle of wine and two glasses.

"Your wine, Señorita." Sully said elegantly as he poured us each a glass. "I will return shortly with your dinner. Please enjoy the beauty that is _España."_

_ I gave Sully a quick thumbs up as he walked away before returning my attention to my wife. She was beaming. I loved seeing her happy._

_ "This is just incredible Nate. How did you ever talk Sully into being our waiter for the night?" She joked, taking a sip of wine. "Or to get him into a fancy suit no less!"_

_ "Well, I might have bribed him with some expensive, and highly illegal, Cuban cigars." I took a drink before Elena could give me her trademarked 'Really Nate?' look. I quickly changed the subject. "So, were you really going to kick my promise-breaking ass tonight? Or were you just playing hard to get?"_

_ Elena smiled knowingly at me from behind the rim of her wine glass. She set it back onto the table before taking my hand again, _"You know, the entire ride over here I was thinking of many different ways that I could wound you, but now that I have seen your most romantic idea to date all I want to do is kiss you until the sun comes up."

I couldn't help but laugh, "Well now, that doesn't sound like a bad idea." I picked my chair up by the bottom and scooted it as close to Elena's as I could.

"What are you up to Nathan Drake?" Elena laughed as I pulled her closer to me. I rested my hand on her neck and tilted her chin up with my thumb before kissing her, slow and sweet.

"The sun hasn't come up yet…You'll find out then."

_**Annnnnd curtain! We hope you've enjoyed reading this as much as we've enjoyed writing it! Maybe one day if enough peeps like it we will write a sequel! ;)**_

_**~Reio und Sydney~**_


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